The Nervous Republicans

Being a Rookie Retiree (barely three months out of the chute) I'm beginning to see things I never noticed when I was working everyday.  Things like the growth rate of grass.  I swear I could mow the lawn in our backyard every other day, it grows that fast.  And cats.  Ever wonder what your cats do all day when you're at work?  Well it's nothing to write a book about, I'll tell ya.  They do absolutely nothing.  Oh they'll occasionally get up and waddle over to their food dish and eat a couple morsels of crunchy Indoor Weight and Hairball Care, but then it's back to the exact spot they've been lying in since dawn.  Cats are to retirement like peel is to a banana.  No, I will not explain that.  Another thing I've noticed since I've been retired is that there's really not much on television during the day worth watching.  Believe me, I've watched most of it.  (Note: The tolerance-time-period for whistling the theme from The Andy Griffith Show is about two hours.  After that time, apparently your wife is legally authorized to kill you.)  And here's something else I've learned:  There really IS nothing that has to be done today, that can't be put off until tomorrow.  But I digress ...

• Ever heard of Gary Johnson?  You probably have somewhere.  He "the other guy" running for President.  Gary Johnson's name will be on the ballot in every state this election, right next to, or immediately following, Barak Obama and Mitt "the Barber" Romney.  Johnson started out as a Republican candidate for president, but dropped out to run for the Libertarian nomination after the former New Mexico governor’s brand of socially liberal, fiscally extremely conservative politics (for the uninitiated, Johnson’s for legalizing pot, he’s pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and he wants to slash the federal budget by more than $1 trillion in his first budget) failed to gain any traction in the crowded GOP primary.  I saw an interview with him the other day and was rather impressed with his demeanor.  The time restriction didn't allow Johnson to delve too deeply into his convictions but he seemed like a reasonable fellow.  Perhaps those of you who just can't bring yourselves to vote for President Obama for whatever reason, should take a good hard look at this fellow.  He might be talking your language.  And he's making the Romney camp nervous.
• Apparently Jeb Bush, brother of Dubya, is getting his head straight on the thought of retirement from Republican politics, and I hope this means we no longer have to worry about him becoming a candidate in the future.  He had the audacity the other day to say his father, the aging and increasingly confused George H.W. Bush, and the still deceased Ronald Reagan would have a hard time fitting in with the current leadership of the Republican Party, the tea baggers.  Criticize the Tea Party?  Ohmygawd. And now The Pope of the Republican Party, Grover Norquist, has called him "foolish," and stopped just short of calling Jeb Bush "stupid."  Goodnite Jebboy.
• What happens when a clergy person -- a minister, a priest, a rabbi, an imam -- realizes he doesn't believe in God?  Well, they're calling it a "major threat" to religion.  You know something's going right when even clergymen begin to realize that god is just a dangerous myth.  Check out this fascinating story Clergy People Coming Out as Atheists.